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Shirley board talks trash with hauler

SHIRLEY -- The Board of Health took trash hauler Northside Carting of North Andover to task at a meeting last week for what it says has been less-than-reliable service.

In a later phone conversation, Board of Health member and town Building Inspector Donald "Butch" Farrar noted recent employee turnover cited by Northside Carting's owner, but he also attributed some of the downhill slide in service to a shift in management that began when Northside owner Robert George turned his business over to his two sons due to a medical issue.

Seated across from the three-member board at a meeting last Monday, Mark George promised to do better.

"We're a little disappointed in your company's performance," Chairman Joseph Howlett said, citing a barrage of calls about trash not being picked up at homes in several areas of town.

Howlett and Farrar said problems are too frequently repeated to blame bad weather or normal miscues, such as people being late in putting out the bags, purchased for a price under the current pay-as-you-throw system.

"We've had trash pickup in Shirley for 30 or 40 years," Farrar said, adding that residents know what to do.

"Your drivers should know the routes by now," as well as pick-up routines, he said.

"If the schedule is for a certain day, that's when folks expect their trash to be picked up," Howlett said, and if it's not, they want to know why.

Excuses like "the truck won't start," are not acceptable, he continued, even on a particularly cold day last winter, when the company apparently cited that reason for a no-show.

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Recent complaints focused on the trash haulers skipping some homes on scheduled days, even bypassing entire streets, and Howlett wanted to know what happened.

"Why did you miss some streets or pick up bags at some houses and not others?" he asked.

Howlett said he and other Board of Health members had observed spotty pickups while driving through town, and the problem is ongoing.

"You have competition, and I don't want the aggravation," Farrar said.

Not only does the town have an opt-out option to cancel the contract for poor performance, but there are private haulers serving customers in town who are always on the lookout for new business, apparently with some success, despite the higher cost, Farrar said.

Howlett debunked George's notion that issues came up mostly in March.

"Every week we get calls," he said.

Farrar later cited cost as the reason the town switched from the previous hauler, Shaw's, to Northside when the previous contract came up for renewal. The bill went from $500,000 down to $180,000 in the current deal, he said.

Now the ball -- or the bag -- is in Northside's court. The board will be looking for the promised improvements, Farrar said.

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